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CfP - Beyond Borders: Creative Methods and Reflexive Approaches to Migration, Media, and Intercultural Dialogue | 16-18 September 2025 | Tallinn University
by Cigdem Bozdag 27 Jan '25

27 Jan '25

Call for Papers Beyond Borders: Creative Methods and Reflexive Approaches to Migration, Media, and Intercultural Dialogue ECREA | Section Conference of Diaspora, Migration, and the Media & International and Intercultural Communication Sections Venue: Tallinn University, Tallinn, Estonia Dates: 16-18 September 2025 Abstract submission deadline: 01. February 2025 Recent global challenges and the rise of far-right governments worldwide have intensified the persecution of migrants, transforming borders into harsh zones of exclusion and surveillance. In this climate, migration is increasingly criminalized, and those seeking safety and opportunity are often met with hostility, reinforcing narrow nationalist ideologies. This environment has posed new methodological challenges for research in migration contexts, as well as prompted reflexive considerations on how knowledge is generated, how participants are cared for, and how spaces are created to support human dignity and mobility. This conference invites researchers to propose abstracts that address methodological and reflexive perspectives in the exploration of multifaceted migration experiences and intercultural communication in the context of migration persecution and border closing. Creative methods, such as digital storytelling, participatory media projects, ethnographic film, and arts-based research, offer rich and nuanced perspectives that address current challenges in migration criminalization. These methods not only capture the complexities of diasporic lives, but also empower communities to express their own narratives and co-create knowledge. We encourage contributions that reflect on these innovative approaches to migration and media studies, as they have the potential to deepen our understanding of how identities, relationships, and cultural dialogues are shaped and redefined through media. Beyond methodological approaches, we also encourage researchers to explore more broadly a reflexive analysis of the dynamic intersection of migration, media, and communication. We encourage submissions that propose alternative, reflexive creative methodological approaches and critical epistemologies to address topics such as: ● Intercultural encounters and intercultural dialogue ● Practices of exclusion, surveillance, and persecution at the border ● AI, platform affordances, and infrastructures in relation to migration and intercultural communication ● Digital counter publics and diasporic activism ● Digital communication on intercultural perceptions and interactions ● Multilingualism in digital spaces and its implications for social cohesion ● Digital transnationalism ● Ethical dimensions of researching migration, media, and intercultural dialogue ● Identity formation and sense of belonging In addition to the conference, we will be hosting a joint workshop for PhD students on the 16th of September 2025, in Tallinn. The workshop will focus on creative methods of research, alternative ways of writing, and reflexive approaches to migration, media, and intercultural dialogue. If you are a PhD student and would like to participate, please submit your application via online submission form. Please note that it is possible for Doctoral researchers to attend both the workshop and the conference, or only one event. More detailed information about the PhD workshop structure will come later. See for further details the link below: https://www.tlu.ee/en/bfm/dmmiic <https://www.tlu.ee/en/bfm/dmmiic>

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VIDEO – Libraries in Response Session 116: ‘Internet 2025 with Vint Cerf’
by Joly MacFie 26 Jan '25

26 Jan '25

God help me, an AI summary: *In session 116 of 'Libraries in Response,' Internet pioneer Vint Cerf and Richard Whitt share their insights about the future of the Internet and its implications for public libraries. Hosted by the Gigabit Libraries Network and supported by IFLA and IMLS, the session covers numerous topics including the role of libraries in mitigating global crises, the impact of AI, the challenge of digital preservation, and the importance of creating a trusted ecosystem on the web. Cerf highlights ongoing work in interplanetary Internet expansion and the evolution of Internet infrastructure, emphasizing the need for digital literacy and preservation standards. Whitt focuses on the need to rebuild trust on the Internet through principles and standards, and discusses his work with the Glia Foundation and AI's ethical implications. The discussion also touches on the complications of increasing digital reliance, the rise of Low Earth Orbit satellite communications, and the importance of lobbying for favorable IP regulations to support digital preservation.* I am pulling the odd clip, see https://www.instagram.com/isoclive/ Read on blog <https://isoc.live/18788/> or Reader <https://public-api.wordpress.com/bar/?stat=groovemails-events&bin=wpcom_ema…> [image: ISOC LIVE] <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=ce26b5b85de3be6c6318796…> On *January 23 2025*, the *Gigabit Libraries Network 'Libraries in Response' <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=aff185c245a6e69e5fbd1e9…>* 116th session '*Internet 2025 with Vint Cerf' <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=5a6fd27dfcf651111a6cf5b…>* featured returning guests *Vint Cerf <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=a1c4c0bb91f6cbec1e9b196…>*, speaking on How to "build resilient communities enabled by digital infrastructure and eco-systems, informed by local priorities and goals", and *Richard Whitt <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=476a289d47e14fd8a78ed2d…>*, expanding on his ideas for using AI to build trust into the internet. Libraries in Response is hosted and recorded by the *International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=2fa6fdfd0e387acd220480b…>* (IFLA). *SPEAKERS* *Vint Cerf* - Founder / Chairman Emeritus, People-Centered Internet (PCI) *Richard Whitt* - President, GLIA Foundation *MODERATOR* *Don Means* - Director, Gigabit Libraries Network *VIEW ON YOUTUBE https://youtu.be/86P2dw4i5H8 <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=d464163d09492a2fa8f82e8…>* *TRANSCRIPT EN <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=6cee44d1a327d6c0af8d14c…>/ ES <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=3eba37362c97f43405946c1…>/ FR <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=1b1f4d10aa15f947dabbda0…>/ PT <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=fcd5e8e9ef288de926ebed1…>* *ARCHIVE https://archive.org/details/lir116-vint <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=5b0640c234a2b8995acb433…>* *ORIGINAL LIVESTREAM https://youtu.be/a8HNM87q4WY <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=f52126a6350f19da4f72932…>* *TWITTER #LibrariesInResponse <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=f9279f4dbe5e7a1ae3e41f6…> @vgcerf @GigLibraries @IFLA* *#LibrariesInResponse MASTODON <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=4cc260c50163f145f090039…> | BLUESKY <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=65414a0852a9796f6a3bb4f…> | INSTA <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=c3f9d8d04f0eb1ee8c32b42…>* *** ISOC.LIVE is a free webcasting support service for the Internet Society Community - ISOC LIVE is currently unfunded - if you would like to become a monthly sponsor - contact support(a)isoc.live *** -- -------------------------------------- Joly MacFie +12185659365 -------------------------------------- -

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Extended Deadline February 11 -- DCOSS-IoT 2025 -- Tuscany (Lucca), Italy, June 9 to 11
by Leivadeas, Aris 26 Jan '25

26 Jan '25

* Please accept our apologies if you have received multiple copies.* --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The 21st Annual International Conference on Distributed Computing in Smart Systems and the Internet of Things (DCOSS-IoT 2025) Tuscany (Lucca), Italy June 9 to 11, 2025 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * The DCOSS-IoT series of events are always technically co-sponsored by IEEE, and Proceedings are published by IEEE Xplore. The 21st International Conference on Distributed Computing in Smart Systems and the Internet of Things (DCOSS-IoT 2025) will be held in Tuscany (Lucca), Italy. The conference is always co-sponsored by the IEEE Computer Society and by the IEEE Technical Committee on Parallel Processing (TCPP). The conference was previously known as DCOSS. Starting in 2023, the event is broadening its scope beyond sensor networks to include smart systems in general and the Internet of Things (IoT). The updated name is "Distributed Computing in Smart Systems and the Internet of Things" (DCOSS-IoT). In the last few years, we have witnessed significant growth in the use of IoT and distributed sensor systems in several application areas, including smart transportation, smart energy systems, smart homes and buildings, smart healthcare, and environmental monitoring. For smart sensor systems to truly become useful and pervasive, we need to address several research challenges, including the tight integration of sensing and machine intelligence, reliable and efficient networking, interoperability and scalability, the need for dependable autonomy, interaction with humans, and important aspects of security, privacy and trust. DCOSS-IoT focuses on issues arising in the entire IoT and networked sensor systems stack, covering aspects of high-level abstractions, models and languages, communication technologies, novel algorithms and applications, system design approaches and architectures, and tools for simulated and real deployments. Potential authors are invited to submit original, unpublished manuscripts demonstrating recent advances in theoretical and experimental research. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following: * Artificial Intelligence for IoT * Machine learning and data mining for IoT and Smart Systems * Smart healthcare to combat epidemics * Edge and fog computing: distributed computing models from sensor to cloud * Machine intelligence in distributed sensor systems and real-time analytics * Novel communication paradigms (e.g., 5G/6G, VLC, DSA) for IoT and Smart Systems * Cyber-Physical Systems * IoT and Smart Systems for Smart and Connected Communities * Autonomous systems: closing the loop between sensing and actuation * Time and location management * Robustness, resilience, and dependability of IoT and smart systems * Security and privacy in IoT and Smart Systems * Performance analysis: complexity, correctness, scalability * Mobile and human-centric sensing * IoT and Smart Systems for social computing * Interoperability, heterogeneity and scalability * Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based sensing/communications/networking * Social sensing and crowd sensing techniques, applications, and systems * Complex systems comprising wearable, robotic and/or fixed sensor systems * IoT and Smart Systems for emerging and developing economies * Green and environmentally friendly IoT (low power, harvesting, energy management) * Sensors and Robots for Internet of Intelligent Things * Design and implementation of real-world applications and systems * Approaches, tools, and experience of deployment and operation * Interdisciplinary applications of IoT and Smart Systems * Smart healthcare and digital epidemiology * Smart agriculture * Smart infrastructures * Smart cities * Smart energy, transportation, and water distribution systems * Smart factories * Smart workspace Authors are invited to submit original, unpublished manuscripts demonstrating current research on distributed smart systems and IoT related to the aforementioned topics of interest. Please use the US letter size (8.5 X 11 in) standard IEEE conference LaTeX format or Microsoft Word template available on: http://www.ieee.org/conferences_events/conferences/publishing/templates.html All submissions should be written in English and have a maximum of eight (8) printed pages, including figures and references. Two (2) additional pages at 100$/page for supplementary material only (such as theorems, proofs, implementation details) are allowed. Starting 2023, DCOSS-IoT follows a double-blind review process. As a result, authors must make a good faith effort to anonymize their submissions. Although submission is double-blind, the existence or availability of non-anonymous preprints (on arXiv or other preprint servers) will not lead to your paper being rejected. Reviewers will be instructed not to look for such preprints actively but encountering them will not constitute a conflict of interest. Papers that do not meet the size, formatting, and anonymization requirements will not be reviewed. We require each paper to be in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) and submitted through the EDAS submission system. *** Special Issue and Best Paper Awards *** DCOSS-IoT 2025 will announce a best paper award and a best poster/demo award. Extended versions of selected best papers from DCOSS-IoT 2025 will be included in a Special Issue of the Computer Networks (COMNET) Journal. *** Important dates *** * Abstract Registration Deadline: February 11, 2025 * Paper Submission Deadline: February 11, 2025 * Acceptance Notification: March 28, 2025 * Camera Ready Deadline: April 15, 2025 *** Key Organizers *** * Technical Program Committee Co-Chairs: * Dario Pompili (Rutgers University, USA) * Jennifer Simonjan (Technology Innovation Institute - TII, UAE) * Zhi Sun (Tsinghua University, China) * General Chairs: * Francesco Betti Sorbelli (UNIPG, Italy) * Cristina M. Pinotti (UNIPG, Italy) * Steering Committee Chair: * Sotiris Nikoletseas (University of Patras and CTI, Greece) Please visit the DCOSS-IoT 2025 website<https://dcoss.org/> for more information. Aris Leivadeas | Associate Professor Department of Software and IT Engineering École de technologie supérieure | University of Quebec 1100, rue Notre-Dame Ouest, office A-3415 Montréal (Québec) H3C 1K3 Tel. 514 396-8860 | etsmtl.ca<http://etsmtl.ca/> Find us on Facebook<http://www.facebook.com/etsmtl> - Twitter<http://twitter.com/etsmtl> - YouTube<http://www.youtube.com/user/etsmtl> - LinkedIn<https://www.linkedin.com/school/etsmtl/>

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CIS-CNRS book club with Payal Arora, 10 feb. 2025, 16h to 17h (CET), by videoconference
by Francesca Musiani 25 Jan '25

25 Jan '25

Dear colleagues, The Center for Internet and Society, CNRS, Paris, runs an online monthly book club known as Hypertextes. We will welcome Payal Arora, digital anthropologist at Utrecht University, on Monday, 10 February 2025, from 16h to 17h (CET), for a discussion about her book From Pessimism to Promise. Lessons from the Global South on Designing Inclusive Tech. (MIT Press, 2024) https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262049306/from-pessimism-to-promise/ The session will be in English, and by way of videoconferencing. Ramya Chandrasekhar <https://cis.cnrs.fr/ramya-chandrasekhar/> (CIS-CNRS) and Olivier Alexandre <https://cis.cnrs.fr/olivier-alexandre/> (CIS-CNRS) will be the discussants. Should this session be of interest to you, please register at the link below. Full description: https://cis.cnrs.fr/hypertextes-payal-arora/ <https://cis.cnrs.fr/hypertextes-payal-arora/> Registration: https://evento.renater.fr/survey/hypertextes-7oi2n9xz <https://evento.renater.fr/survey/hypertextes-7oi2n9xz> --- When it comes to tech, the mainstream headlines are bleak: Algorithms control and oppress. AI will destroy democracy and our social fabric, and possibly even drive us to extinction. While legitimate concerns drive these fears, we need to equally account for the fact that tech affords young people something incredibly valuable—a rare space for self-actualization. In /From Pessimism to Promise/, award-winning author Payal Arora explains that outside the West, where most of the world’s youth reside, there is a significantly different outlook on tech: in fact, there is a contagion of optimism toward all things digital. These users, especially those in marginalized contexts, are full of hope for new tech. As AI disrupts sectors across industries, education, and beyond, who better to shine the light forward, Arora argues, than the Global South, the navigator of all manner of forced disruptions, leapfrogging obstructive systems, norms, and practices to rapidly reinvent itself? Drawing on field insights in diverse global contexts such as Brazil, India, and Bangladesh, Arora describes what drives Gen Z to embrace new technologies. /From Pessimism to Promise/ discusses the shift to relationally driven approaches to design; how to create “algorithms of aspiration”; how to reimagine the digital space for sex, pleasure, and care; and what we can learn from feminist digital activists and women’s collectives in the Global South on shared digital provenance and value, as well as Indigenous approaches to sustainability, that challenges sacred ideas on degrowth, the circular economy, and the doughnut economy. Arora also takes heart in the power of numbers, as the users from the majority world infuse algorithms with everyday aspirations, pushing for a new digital order. Timely and urgent/, From Pessimism to Promise/ makes a deeply compelling case that it is not naive to be optimistic about our digital future. On the contrary, it is our moral imperative to design with hope. *Payal Arora <https://www.uu.nl/staff/PArora>* is a digital anthropologist, consultant, TEDx speaker, and author of the award-winning book /The Next Billion Users/. Forbes named her the “next billion champion” and the “right kind of person to reform tech.” She is Professor of Inclusive AI Cultures at Utrecht University and cofounder of FemLab, a feminist future of work initiative. -- Francesca Musiani, Ph.D. Directrice de recherche | Research Professor, CNRS <http://www.cnrs.fr> Directrice | Director, Centre Internet et Société <https://cis.cnrs.fr/> (UPR 2000 CNRS) Directrice adjointe | Deputy Director, GDR Internet, IA et Société <https://cis.cnrs.fr/presentation-gdr/> (GDR 2091 CNRS) I'm also associated with: i3-CSI <http://www.csi.ensmp.fr/>, MINES ParisTech | Internet Governance Lab <https://internetgovernancelab.org>, American University I co-lead projects: DIGISOV <https://digisov.org> | TIGre <https://netgouv.hypotheses.org/projet-technologie-internet-et-gouvernance-t…> I help co-editing: Internet Policy Review <https://policyreview.info> | RESET <https://journals.openedition.org/reset/> I'm an advisor for: ISOC France <https://www.isoc.fr> | ANSSI <https://www.ssi.gouv.fr/agence/rayonnement-scientifique/conseil-scientifiqu…> | IAMCR <https://iamcr.org/governance/int-council> I'm here on the Web (FR <https://cis.cnrs.fr/francesca-musiani/> | EN <https://cis.cnrs.fr/en/francesca_musiani/>), including my publications.

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38th IEEE International Symposium on Computer-Based Medical Systems (CBMS 2025) :Call for Papers
by Announce 25 Jan '25

25 Jan '25

*** Call for Papers *** 38th IEEE International Symposium on Computer-Based Medical Systems (IEEE CBMS 2025) June 18-20, 2025, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), Madrid, Spain https://2025.cbms-conference.org Attracting a worldwide audience, CBMS is the premier conference for computer-based medical systems, and one of the main conferences within the fields of medical informatics and biomedical informatics. CBMS allows the exchange of ideas and technologies between academic and industrial scientists. The scientific program of IEEE CBMS 2023 will consist of regular and special track sessions with technical contributions reviewed and selected by an international program committee as well as keynote talks, and tutorials given by leading experts in their fields. The IEEE CBMS 2023 edition also aims to host high-quality papers about industry and real case applications as well as allow to researchers leading international projects to show to the scientific community the main aims, goals, and results of their projects. We solicit submissions on previously unpublished research work. Example areas include but are not limited to: - Active and Healthy Ageing System - Analytics and solutions in Public Health - Artificial intelligence in healthcare - Big Data Analytics in Healthcare - Bioinformatics - Biomedical Signal and Image Processing and Machine Vision - Cognitive Computing in Healthcare - Computer Supported Cooperative Work in Healthcare (CSCW) - Databases and blockchain in Medicine or Healthcare - Data Analysis and Knowledge Discovery in Medicine or Healthcare - Decision Support and Recommendation Systems in Medicine or Healthcare - e-Health - Ethics in the application of ICT to biomedicine - Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) in Healthcare - Knowledge Representation in Medicine or Healthcare - m-Health - Medical education using ICT - Medical Robotics, Intelligent Medical Devices, and Smart Technologies - Network and Telemedicine Systems - Privacy and security in healthcare - Radiomics and Radiogenomics - Serious Games for Healthcare - Software Systems in Medicine - Technology in Clinical and Healthcare Services Research - Web-Based Delivery of Medical Information TRACKS Apart from the regular, CBMS 2025 has special and dedicated tracks. Concretely: - Showcases/Research projects: Specific track to submit a) scientific papers, (b) demonstrations/posters and (c) research-projects descriptions. More info: https://2025.cbms-conference.org/call-for-showcases-research-projects/ - Doctoral Consortium: Doctoral Consortium for CBMS 2025 will provide an opportunity for PhD students to present their research plans or their preliminary work in an informal and supportive atmosphere. More info: https://2025.cbms-conference.org/doctoral-consortium/ SPECIAL TRACKS - Special Track on Computational Intelligence on Medical Imaging (CIMI): https://2025.cbms-conference.org/special-track-cimi/ - Special Track on Generative Artificial Intelligence for Biomedical Applications (GAI4BA): https://2025.cbms-conference.org/special-track-gai4ba/ - Special Track on Multimodal Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare (MAIH): https://2025.cbms-conference.org/special-track-maih/ - Special Track on Network Medicine (NM): https://2025.cbms-conference.org/special-track-nm/ - Special Track on Security and Privacy in Health Systems—Addressing Technology, Society, and Law: https://2025.cbms-conference.org/special-track-on-security-and-privacy/ - Special Track on Semantic Interoperability of Biomedical Data (SIBIDA): https://2025.cbms-conference.org/special-track-sibida/ - Special Track on Surgery AI (SAI): https://2025.cbms-conference.org/special-track-sai/ SPECIAL ISSUES CBMS 2025 aims to organize several special issues in reputed journals where invited authors will be able to submit extended versions of their works. Current accepted special issues are: Special Issue on Connected Healthcare: Data-Driven and Scalable Solutions (HISS Journal): https://2025.cbms-conference.org/special-issue-hiss/ Special Issue on Artificial Intelligence for Next-Generation Healthcare Solutions (AIIM Journal): https://2025.cbms-conference.org/special-issue-aiim/ ORGANIZERS - Alejandro Rodríguez González, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Spain) - Rosa Sicilia, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma (Italy) PAPER SUBMISSION AND PUBLICATION Submitted papers have to be original, containing new and original results. Submission implies the willingness of at least one of the authors to register and present the paper at the CBMS 2025 Symposium. All papers will be peer reviewed by at least two independent referees. - Prospective authors are invited to submit papers in any of the topics listed above. - Instructions for preparing the manuscript (in Word and Latex formats) are available at: https://2025.cbms-conference.org/ - Please also check the Guidelines. - Papers must be submitted electronically via the web-based submission system. CONTACT info(a)cbms-conference.org IMPORTANT DATES - Paper submission deadline: March 7, 2025 (AoE) - Notification of acceptance: April 20, 2025 - Camera-ready due: April 30, 2025

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Call for Submissions // 4S Annual Meeting 2025 in Seattle // Media Narratives in War & Humor as Digital Activism
by Sarah Rüller 25 Jan '25

25 Jan '25

Dear Colleagues, We are excited to invite abstract contributions to our two open panels for the 4S Annual Meeting 2025, taking place in Seattle, Washington, USA, on September 3-6, 2025. Our panels are: #240. “The Role of Media Narratives in War and Conflict: Language, Ethics, and Power” & #241. "Memes and Humor as Digital Activism: Subversive Narratives in the Social Media Age” If you would like to participate in our sessions, please submit an abstract of approximately 250 words and follow the submission guidelines here: 4S Call for Submissions. Deadline for submission is January 31, 2025. Panel Summaries 240. “The Role of Media Narratives in War and Conflict: Language, Ethics, and Power” Media narratives of war are shaped by complex socio-technical systems where journalistic practices, platform algorithms, and state actors converge to mediate global discourses of conflict. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, this panel explores the co-constitution of language, media ethics, and digital technologies in shaping perceptions of war and violence. Through an STS lens, we critically examine the interplay of human and non-human actors-journalists, algorithms, users, and platforms-in the construction and dissemination of conflict narratives. We aim to provide new insights into the ways in which media both reflect and shape the socio-political realities of armed conflict. We invite papers that explore • The role of algorithmic curation in amplifying or marginalizing particular war narratives. • How media technologies influence the terminology (e.g., "invasion," "military operation") used to describe conflict and its impact on public understanding. • The ethical challenges of reporting in algorithmically-driven spaces where sensationalism competes with integrity. • The ways in which disinformation and propaganda are circulated and moderated by socio-technical systems during conflict. • The consequences of these dynamics for information literacy and public engagement with discourses of war. By focusing on the mediation of conflict through sociotechnical assemblages, this panel contributes to STS by interrogating the material, ethical, and political dimensions of media technologies in contemporary warfare. We aim to foster critical insights into how these systems shape not only public opinion, but also geopolitical power. We invite scholars from all areas to submit their work. 241. "Memes and Humor as Digital Activism: Subversive Narratives in the Social Media Age” Memes and satire occupy a unique space in the socio-technical landscape of digital activism, serving as both cultural expressions and tools of resistance. This panel explores the dual role of digital satire: as a mode of critique that enables activists to subvert dominant power structures, mobilize collective action, and sustain movements, and as content that is shaped, regulated, and commodified by the very platforms it seeks to critique. By positioning memes and satire as socio-technical artifacts, the panel examines how their creation and circulation are influenced by platform algorithms, participatory cultures, and digital communication infrastructures. Through this analysis, we aim to uncover the potential of digital satire to reshape socio-political discourse in an era of heightened surveillance and algorithmic governance. Topics to be explored include • The material politics of memes: How do platform infrastructures shape the production, circulation, and reception of digital humor in activism. • Memes as socio-technical imaginaries: How do they reconfigure notions of resistance, identity, and solidarity in digital spaces? • The role of algorithms in amplifying or suppressing meme-driven activism. • The ethical and political challenges of using humor in activism, especially in the context of commodification and cultural appropriation. • How digital satire amplifies marginalized voices, promotes counter-narratives, and adapts to geopolitical and cultural contexts while confronting the limitations imposed by platform governance. • How humor and satire navigate platform-specific affordances and constraints, such as algorithmic bias, content moderation, and surveillance, raises critical questions about their capacity to foster meaningful socio-political change. • Case studies of meme-driven movements, focusing on their socio-technical contexts and global/local dynamics. By approaching memes and digital satire through an STS framework, this panel highlights the co-production of culture, technology, and resistance in digital activism. It seeks to uncover the hidden infrastructures and power dynamics that shape the subversive potential of humor, offering insights into the broader socio-technical assemblages of online political engagement. Additional Information More details about the conference can be found here: 4S Annual Meeting 2025. For questions, feel free to contact us: • Yarden Skop (yarden.skop(a)uni-siegen.de) • Sarah Rüller (sarah.rueller(a)uni-siegen.de) • Konstantin Aal (konstantin.aal(a)uni-siegen.de) • Norah Abokhodair (norah.abukhodair(a)gmail.com) • Houda Elmimouni (houda.elmimouni(a)umanitoba.ca) We look forward to your contributions! Best regards, The Organizing Team _________________ Dr. des. Sarah Rüller (she/her) Team Leader “Community & Activism” // Information Systems and New Media Senior Researcher // CRC 1187 - Media of Cooperation University of Siegen // Kohlbettstraße 15 // 57072 Siegen // Room: US-D 104 Recent Publications: From Singularity to PlurAIverse: Expanding the AI Design Paradigm. https://doi.org/10.1145/3686169.3686207 Shielding or Silencing?: An Investigation into Content Moderation during the Sheikh Jarrah Crisis. https://doi.org/10.1145/3633071

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CfP: 4S Open panel on Creativity and AI
by Pranjali Mann 24 Jan '25

24 Jan '25

Dear all, Alberto Lusoli and Pranjali Mann are pleased to share the CfP for their open panel at the upcoming *4S conference* in Seattle (September 3 – 7 2025). The deadline to submit a 250-word abstract is January 31. *Artificial creativity? Examining values and conceptualizations of creativity as embedded in Generative Artificial Intelligence models* Innovation and creativity have been used as levers to govern human labor, structure workplaces, and implement production technologies in what has been variously labelled as post-Fordist, disordered, and aesthetic capitalism. The history of the creative class has become intertwined with the development of information and communication technologies, which opened (seemingly) new possibilities for creative experimentation. From desktop publishing to the rise of commercial internet, the emancipatory potential of digital means of production and communication furthered such imaginaries and visions of autonomous, non-alienated creative labor. This seems to have been reiterated in recent years with the affirmation of social media, and the commercial success of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI). Although the current GenAI tools can only produce derivative works by mining large datasets of multimedia content, their creative potential—real or imagined—raises critical questions about conceptualization of creativity, which is ever-changing to better fit its (technologically) modelled and bounded nature. We ask, how does understanding of creativity fit within the current development of GenAI technologies? Further, to what extent do cultural and creative commodities generated by AI reflect or depart from predominant styles and trends that are found in the datasets on which these tools are trained? What would automation of creative labor mean in such contexts? We welcome papers dealing with questions and theories at the intersection of creativity, labor, and computation. The panel discusses shifts, including but not limited to, the workplace, creative industry, technology and AI. Exploring historical dimensions and underpinning assumptions about technologically mediated creativity, it poses questions about the influence of AI on creative expression and cultural production. *Organizers*: Pranjali J Mann (*pjm13(a)sfu.ca <pjm13(a)sfu.ca>*), Alberto Lusoli (*alusoli(a)sfu.ca <alusoli(a)sfu.ca>*), Digital Democracies Institute, Simon Fraser University *Submission deadline*: January 31 *Submission platform*: *https://www.4sonline.org/call_for_submissions_seattle.php <https://www.4sonline.org/call_for_submissions_seattle.php>* *Panel ID*: 127

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2 weeks left to apply: Oxford-Berkeley Summer Doctoral Program
by 4etmeyer＠gmail.com 24 Jan '25

24 Jan '25

Dear Friends and Colleagues: please share with your doctoral students! The UC Berkeley School of Information <https://www.ischool.berkeley.edu/> is partnering with the Oxford Internet Institute (OII) <https://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/> and the Berkeley Center for New Media (BCNM) <https://bcnm.berkeley.edu/> to bring the OII Summer Doctoral Programme (SDP) to Berkeley. It will be held at Berkeley and Oxford in alternating years, beginning at Berkeley in 2025, and brings together outstanding doctoral students from around the world for two weeks of study at the world-leading universities. The program, which has been run by the OII since 2003 and has benefitted hundreds of doctoral students, is structured around daily lectures, seminars, and tutorials with leading academics in the field of information, new media, and internet studies. It provides an academic framework to share and discuss students' current research. It is intended for advanced doctoral students from multiple disciplines engaged in dissertation research relating to information studies, the internet, new media, and other digital technologies. Program dates: July 14-25, 2025 Program location: Berkeley, California, USA Application deadline: February 7, 2025 Contact: sdp(a)ischool.berkeley.edu <mailto:sdp@ischool.berkeley.edu> Webpage and Application: Oxford Internet Institute <https://www.ischool.berkeley.edu/programs/oxford-berkeley-summer-doctoral-p rogram> - UC Berkeley School of Information Summer Doctoral Program Best wishes and apologies for cross-posting, Eric ERIC T. MEYER Dean & Chancellor's Professor of Social Informatics School of Information, University of California, Berkeley email: <mailto:eric.meyer@berkeley.edu> eric.meyer(a)berkeley.edu

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4S 2025 | Echoes of Human Care and AI Repair in Times of Broken Machines
by Srravya C 24 Jan '25

24 Jan '25

Hi everyone, We hope this email finds you well. We are pleased to invite you to *submit an abstract* to our open panel “*Echoes of Human Care and AI Repair in Times of Broken Machines*” (panel 86) at the 50th Annual Meeting of the Society for Social Studies of Science (4S): Reverberations <https://www.4sonline.org/about_the_conference_seattle.php> (September 3 – 7, 2025 Seattle WA). Please see below for the panel abstract. Abstracts (max 250 words) can be submitted to the conference platform through the submission system <https://www.4sonline.org/accepted_open_panels_seattle.php> (panel 86). Please note that the deadline for submissions is *January 31, 2025*. If you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch with us. We look forward to receiving your proposals. Best Regards, Srravya (and the AIES team) ---- Panel 86 *Echoes of Human Care and AI Repair in Times of Broken Machines* We explore AI as a ‘broken machine,’ examining flaws and failures as sites for sociotechnical change which are entangled with socio-political histories and shape future potentialities. Engaging with relational and nonlinear conceptual and activist lenses exemplified by care and repair, techno-refusal and abolition, this panel aims to challenge mainstream characterizations of AI and chart the complexities of its intertwined flaws, errors and uncertainties. We welcome case studies, theoretical and methodological analyses, and artistic expressions. This panel explores the socio-political significance of AI malfunctioning through the lens of care and repair, situating these within broader scholarship from STS and Critical Data Studies, aiming to bring together a collective of researchers, artists and activists interested in AI brokenness as both method and site. Just as reverberations transmit and transform energy across space and time, the discussion will focus on the echoes of disruption and the potential for constructive reactivation within and without AI systems. Drawing inspiration from Sarah Sharma's ‘Manifesto for the Broken Machine,’ we aim to interrogate how brokenness in AI can serve as a site for radical reflection and innovation. The unintentional ‘great IT outage’ of August 2024 and the intentional governmental internet shutdowns in India serve as points of departure to examine brokenness as a critical concept. By likening broken machines to figures such as Sara Ahmed's killjoys and Donna Haraway's cyborgs, we propose examining the alternative onto-epistemologies that challenge mainstream AI narratives. These perspectives often defy neat categorisation under traditional expertise, demanding a more inclusive approach that embraces marginal voices and diverse modes of knowledge production. This panel invites contributions through case studies, theoretical and methodological explorations, or artistic expressions, that address the following questions: How can brokenness in AI be reimagined as a force for socio-political change? What are the possibilities for repair and care in an age where technology rapidly co-evolves with capitalist exploitation? How do marginalised onto-epistemologies inform our understanding of AI? Is there room for resistance or abolition in regions of high AI entrenchment and enchantment? AI Ethics & Society is a research network based in Scotland and Northern England, exploring the critical intersections of AI through invited talks, reading groups, screenings, and symposia. This is our first collective submission to 4S.

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CfA Research Sabbaticals (Fellowships) and Working Groups at the Center for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS)
by Esther Laufer 24 Jan '25

24 Jan '25

The Center for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS) funds innovative research on the societal opportunities and challenges of digital transformation. We support individual researchers (fellows) and collaborative projects (working groups). Fellowships: Time and Space for Focus and Inspiration A fellowship at CAIS provides the freedom to dedicate yourself entirely to your research while immersing yourself in a vibrant interdisciplinary environment. Step away from your daily work obligations to gain new perspectives and build connections. As a fellow, you can spend either six or three months in Bochum, Germany. During this time, we will cover your sabbatical leave from work through financial compensation (e.g. for a teaching substitute) or provide grants of up to 2.000 € per month. You can invite guests for collaboration and receive financial support for research expenses. A private office and modern facilities offer optimal working conditions. In addition, we will provide a fully furnished apartment free of charge. Find out more: https://www.cais-research.de/en/cais-college/fellowships/ Working Groups: Boost Your Research Collaboration A working group at CAIS allows you to bring together experts from different locations to collaborate in a stimulating environment. We provide modern meeting facilities and catering for groups of up to ten members. In addition, we will cover travel and accommodation expenses. You can spend up to three weeks in Bochum or get together for several shorter meetings. Find out more: https://www.cais-research.de/en/cais-college/working-groups/ Application The next deadline for applications is 28 February 2025. The earliest possible start date for new fellowships is April 2026. Working groups can currently apply for meetings in 2026. Please use the application forms provided on our website. The funding program is open to excellent scholars and practitioners at all career stages and from all disciplines. Both fundamental research and applied projects are welcome. Questions? Please contact esther.laufer(a)cais-research.de mailto:esther.laufer@cais-research.de.

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